Canicule
by katachresis
Summary: Temperatures rise between young Sesshomaru and Inuyasha shounenai, InuSess


This is a long-overdue giftfic. I believe I owed it to Ophelia. Gomen ne. ;o;~   
  
In general, I'm not a big fan of this pairing. :/ I tend to believe that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are completely incompatable, and don't get any chemistry off them. So, here's my meager, cop-out of a Inu/Sess fic. Hope you all enjoy, at least a little! XD;;;  
  
Thanks to colin and xin for giving this the once-over. :3  
  
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My father brought his human wench and my young half-brother to live with us when I was but a pup, and the whelp's eyes were barely open. I had just recently lost my mother, and although father's new mate was nice, she irritated me, trying to step into my own mother's role.  
  
Her child, at first, was of no consequence to me. He was just a vaguely smelly, annoying thing with a penchant for screaming at the drop of a hat. An irritation, to be sure, but hardly one worth my time.  
  
Only one fact changed that. He grew faster than me.   
  
Do you have any clue how much that drove me crazy back then? That bastard mutt was several years younger than I, yet by my twelfth year, looking at us side-by-side, you'd think he was two years my senior.  
  
And of course, he took every advantage he could of his superior height and, at that time, strength. It didn't help that he was a bit of a bully either. Constantly he would challenge me, and I'd be bound by honor to face the little pup.  
  
Oh, it galled me to no end to come out on the losing end of our tussles more often than not. Every time he managed to pin me, I resented him a little bit more. Every time father fussed over him, congratulating for growing up so strong and brave, I seethed.  
  
It wasn't fair. Why should he be the one who was so admired, who got all that attention? I was the firstborn, I was the one who would be father's heir. He wasn't even a full demon. What was so special about him?  
  
My intellect became my best weapon against my younger brother. Oh, I don't mean to imply that he was slow or stupid, for he was far from either. But I was still more intelligent, faster on my feet. In the time it took him to respond to one insult, I had two more out.  
  
We spent years like that. I'd insult him until I frustrated him into anger, he'd hit me till I stopped trying to fight back, and then I'd insult him again. Neither of us backed down, we just took the fight for supremacy onto our own territory.  
  
Even after our father died and we grew out of our adolescence, the pattern remained the same. It was comfortable, if not quite pleasant.  
  
That summer, I finally was hitting another growth spurt, and was almost on the level with my brother. It made things more interesting… our fights were actual fights now, he had to really work to keep on top.   
  
When I realized what was happening, I needled him about that constantly, about the fact that one day soon, he'd no longer be able to beat me physically anymore. He'd have to recognize me as better than him, both physically and mentally.   
  
Of course, that enraged him, and his battering took on a more serious edge. Less play and more designed to hurt, we both walked away from it with an increasing amount of bruises and shallow scratches from each other's talons.  
  
It was the dead of summer, when the heat and humidity was at its most oppressive. I can't even describe how miserable it was, how the hot air stuck in your throat, how it sat in your lungs like heated rocks. Not even swimming in the snow-fed river helped - the water clung to you when you got out, heating your skin back up instantly, even warmer than it had been before.   
  
Cicadas roared in the forest, so loud they forced their way into your every thought. You couldn't ignore them, and they gave me a throbbing headache. I had stripped off my kimono top, using it as a pillow as I lay in the practically impenetrable shade of a large tree, closing my eyes, trying to think my way into winter.   
  
I kept my eyes closed as he stared at me, my face serene. Not betraying by the smallest flicker of an eyelid that I had registered his presence. For all he knew, I was sleeping.   
  
I had heard him coming a mile off, of course. Inuyasha never has, nor will ever have, a good grasp of the concept of 'stealth.'   
  
He grunted slightly under his breath, shifted on his feet. Then sighed as if making a decision - or giving up. I sincerely hoped it was the latter of the two. My headache and the damned heat had put me in a foul mood, and dealing with an annoying younger brother was the last thing I wanted to do that day.   
  
But he didn't leave, just stood there, watching me. Finally, he growled. "I know you're awake."  
  
I cracked an eye open. He stood, arms crossed, scowling. I noticed with irritation that he was hardly sweating. Damn brat had always had a far greater tolerance for heat than I.   
  
"What?" My voice held all the irritation and haughtiness that only an elder brother could muster.  
  
He shrugged. "I'm bored."  
  
Opening both my eyes, I fixed him with a completely uninterested gaze. "How unfortunate that must be for you. Why don't you go find something to do?" I tried to keep my words clipped, cool, but I'm afraid they came out as more of a annoyed whine than anything else.  
  
"There -is- nothing to do." He sighed irritably, flopping down next to me.   
  
I closed my eyes again, sighed. Tried to ignore him as best I could, even as he rolled around to get comfortable, grunted, sighed. Relative silence descended, but not even that was mollifying.   
  
I found out that even his breathing bothered me, less a simple process of drawing breath than a progression of deep rhythmic sighs. Did he -have- to breathe so loudly, or was it just to irritate me into paying attention to him?  
  
Staring up at the leaves, I tried to ignore him, really I did. But his simple presence was aggravating me. Finally I sat up, looked over at him. "So, why aren't you playing with mommy today? Isn't that what you humans do?"  
  
It wasn't anything drastically worse than any other insult I had flung at him before, in fact it was a rather flat one, but suddenly I found myself pinned to the ground, one hand held above my head. And brother-dearest's claws at my throat, his hand pressing on it hard enough that it was just slightly difficult to breathe.   
  
Still, I couldn't suppress the laugh. I had gotten the better of him. "What's wrong, halfbreed?" I sneered, caught my breath to hurl another insult. I never got to say it. Pity that, it was a particularly good one.   
  
He growled, leaning forward, crushing his lips to mine, effectively silencing me, turning my poisoned words into a highly inarticulate yelp as his teeth sunk into my lip.  
  
Perhaps the kiss started as a way to stop me from talking without loosening his grip on me, a way to pre-emptively punish me for whatever I was about to say without giving up his margin of advantage. But slowly, his tongue slid out to lick at my bruised lip.   
  
I grunted, pushing up at him with my free hand, not particularly comfortable with this turn of events, but the damned brute wouldn't budge. Instead, he continued alternating between slow laps and quick, sharp nibbles. He threw his leg over my body, sliding so that he rested on top of me.  
  
My lips were tingling, and I was feeling increasingly short of breath. And hotter. I had already been half-asleep from the heat, and now my head was spinning so that I barely even noticed when he loosened his grip on me.  
  
Without really realizing it, I dropped my hands to his shoulders, closed my eyes. He was kissing me deeper now, his tongue brushing over mine, and it made me shiver, lean into him, want more. His hands slid down my body slowly, with some uncertainty, talon tips making my shiver.  
  
With a jolt, I opened my eyes, pushed at him with all my strength. I managed to topple him, so that he lay beside me. He was able to catch my wrist as I did though, dragging me halfway onto him. He looked up at me, eyes a bright swirl of yellow, hotter than the sun that I had been hiding from.  
  
"Stop it," I said, breaking eye contact and trying to free my wrist.  
  
"What's wrong, brother?" Inuyasha snorted, pulling at my arm so that I lost what precarious balance I may have had and fell completely onto him.   
  
"You're no brother of mine." I hissed, glaring up at the hanyou.  
  
"Then there's no problem, is there?" He reached up, pulling my head to his and kissed me again, harder this time, taking control of my mouth, even as I continued to struggle. I almost broke loose, but he just growled, rolled us so that I was back underneath him, pinning my arm next to my head. I felt his leg slid between mine, brushing up against the slight hardness I had been trying to hide.   
  
I panted, barely avoiding a moan as I broke away from the kiss, trying to think, to figure how to break his grip on me before he had completely humiliated me. I could hear breathy laughter in my ear, and it made me cringe. Teeth grazed my earlobe, hot lips kissing their way across my cheek, back to my mouth.   
  
The world spun crazily around me, off its axis, reversing. I found myself clinging to him, instead of pushing him away.  
  
My free hand was at his shoulder, talons digging hard at his shoulder, releasing the faint metal and salt scent of blood as his hand slid over my chest, fingers catching on a nipple. I pulled away, my breath hissing out in a harsh rasp that seemed to belong to another.  
  
Inuyasha was staring at me, eyes wide and suddenly confused, hesitant. His hand lay limply on my chest, and his grip had relaxed. I shuddered, pushing at him, so that he slid off me.  
  
The blood, the heat, it had gone to my head. I refused to meet his eyes and instead stood up, gathering up my clothing and the remains of my dignity. Ignoring the ache between my legs, resolutely, wordlessly, I turned away. Thankfully, I didn't hear him follow.  
  
Suddenly, a dip in the river sounded like heaven. 


End file.
